04/25/2013
Q. An employee has brought to my attention that another employee seems to be spending much of the workday posting to a social media site, to the point where he could conceivably be spending at least three to four hours a day doing something other than work. Apparently, the website doesn’t require being someone’s “friend” to see their social media activity. Is it OK if I sign up with the site to monitor his use?
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04/25/2013
Q. We have an employee who was out on workers’ comp and has recently returned to work part time. (She is still collecting partial workers’ comp benefits.) Can we adjust her vacation and personal leave time to reflect the limited hours she’s working, or is she entitled to the full amount of days?
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04/23/2013
Q. We would like to ask all of our employees to sign arbitration agreements. However, in light of the 2011 U.S. Supreme Court decision in AT&T Mobility v. Conception, we would like these arbitration agreements to contain class-action waivers. How should we handle this process, given that we are in the transportation industry?
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04/23/2013
Q. Is it true that all California employers are required to post a human trafficking notice?
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04/23/2013
Q. A while ago two of our employees developed a romantic relationship. They are now expecting a baby and both workers put in a request for family leave to bond with their newborn. Are we required to give both workers leave for the birth of their child—even if they are not married?
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04/23/2013
Q. Many of our 60 employees fail to correctly clock in or out and it’s creating major payroll issues. I’ve met with employees who are chronic time-clock abusers and placed warnings in their files. Can we dock an employee for failing to clock in or out?
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04/18/2013
Q. As a small college, we employ quite a few adjunct instructors, especially for night classes. They work on a term-to-term contract for specific courses. One instructor got a very poor review and we’d like to ease him out. He’s making noises about age discrimination. If we don’t renew his contract but instead use a younger, fresh-out-of-grad-school instructor, could he have a case?
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04/16/2013
Q. One of our employees claims he needs an ergonomic desk for health reasons. He seems physically fit and goes “Jeeping” on the weekends. Do we have to start the whole accommodations process?
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04/11/2013
Q. We currently have 15 employees, but several work part time. Are we required to provide reasonable accommodations under the ADA or the MHRA?
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04/11/2013
Q. We are thinking about implementing a no-fault attendance policy. We hope it will provide clearer absenteeism rules and make it easier for managers to enforce. Are there any downsides?
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04/11/2013
Q. An employee requested an accommodation for a medical issue. We asked her to provide a note from her medical provider regarding the need for accommodation. She brought in a note but it’s unclear what the physician is trying to say. What should we do?
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04/03/2013
Q. Are we required to put up a new FMLA poster? Did the DOL recently make other FMLA changes we need to know about?
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03/29/2013
Q. Can I consider safety when deciding whether to hire a disabled applicant or retain an employee with a disability?
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03/29/2013
Q. We gave eligible employees a “floating holiday” in lieu of having Dec. 31 as a paid holiday. We generally pay employees for all unused vacation, sick and personal time upon termination, but we have no policy regarding an unused floating holiday. Do we have to pay workers for any unused floating holidays upon termination?
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03/29/2013
Q. We recently hired someone who will be working from home three days a week. Do OSHA’s regulations and standards apply to home offices? And are there any other laws we would need to be concerned about regarding telecommuting?
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